Study Task 4 - Journal Pages analysis/synthesis

Journal Pages

 This journal discusses analogue and digital processes, suitability, technological development and reproduction. I found a good way to tie all of the images together was to illustrate analogue and digital technology as the visual imagery to exemplify the theories. This has been helpful to myself, drawing to my attention what analogue and digital technology is and the differences.

I created this to show that the handcrafted nature of the hand drawn words is prevalent and they have an allure to them. Conversely they wouldn't be appropriate everywhere, for example in formal documents and that digital has its own purpose. These were words which I drew from my essays as the most important and words that I could discuss through my journal. I thought this was a good page to start off with and a bridge between the essays to the visual journal.

I thought it would be obvious to begin by defining the qualities of analogue and digital. This shows the digital and analogue the signals clearly showing the accuracy and exactness of the regimented digital signals in comparison (reflecting on this I probably should have created the digital signals on the computer) to the rougher more individual nature of the sound waves. 

These portray the wave length of analogue signals and the code transmitted for digital signals. This is shown through paint (which works well as even if I created it again I could not recreate it) and perfect, exact digital code which is either 0 or 1. Douglas says that "copying an audio or video signal in the part always involved a loss in clarity" and these image illustrates why (because so much background noise is lost from the analogue sound waves BUT does this loose its authenticity?

I wanted this to be representative of a vinyl record. This is a huge conversation in the discussion of analogue verses digital, are vinyl records better than digital tracks with some people truly devoted to analogue vinyl records believing that quality and authenticity is lost when converted to digital as background/white noise is lost. They also like that you can hold a record sleeve in your hands, own the piece of artwork "every day the urge gets stronger to get hold of an object at very close range by way of its likeness, reproduction" says Benjamin. The pages shows clearly how analogue image making can be interesting, visually stimulating and this is here proven through such imperfect and varied line qualities. On the other hand the digital vinyl is suitable for things like a graphic logo or design as it is a perfect circle and very symmetrical.

Here this is almost a trick. The greyscale drawing is analogue, hand drawn on a page of the journal. I then scanned this in converting it to pixels and used photoshop to edit the image, making it colourful. Then printed off and stuck in my journal next to this image.  Douglas says "The same is true for handmade images or words that can be scanned- that is, converted to digital bits" that they "can be altered or cloned" very easily "mimicking the art of hand". This is portraying how easy it is to edit and image once it is digital and how sometimes it still keeps it looking analogue. Douglas also said "there is no longer a clear conceptual distinction between original and reproduction in virtually any medium".

Then I did another drawing which was greyscale but then scanned it in and used some incredible photoshop skills to translate the scanned in original image into reproductions. This has created 4 more originals because they are all different, but are they original because they are digital and can be reproduced exactly the same? Douglas called these "post original original". 

Benjamin states "reproductions distort" and Douglas says " handmade images or words that can be scanned- that is, converted to digital bits" they "can be altered or cloned" and easily "mimicking the art of hand". Furthermore Douglas stated that "the work of art in the age of digital reproduction is physically and formally chameleon" because digitalisation has enabled versatility and here the telephone images show how imagery can be altered with so many effects it can be suitable/appropriate for whatever is necessary (like a chameleon). 

This specifically illustrates the development in technology through when Benjamin was writing to when Douglas wrote their texts. This portrays that when Benjamin was writing and referring to reproduction he was writing about mechanical reproduction and wasn't in a decade where there was digital cameras and software to easily edit things as "mechanical reproduction (..) represents something new". Furthermore, when Douglas and Taylor were writing what was new for Benjamin was old for them.

Although this is image was drawn of the same washing machine image from the internet, it was drawn twice but each time is different. They are slightly different in size, don't have straight lines, the circles aren't symmetrical... but is this a bad ting? each image has character and portrays Benjamin's "concept of authenticity".

This is an exercise to show that even though all of these images are drawing the same clock, they are all slightly different due to the fact that they are analogue. This is showing "the aura of originality" which is a principle explained by Douglas about Benjamin. He further says that "this is where aura resides". Benjamin says that "the presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity".

This is an interesting image because it is drawn analogue, using a pen and shows the makers hand, however it is drawn on a Wacom tablet through pixels digitally. This is crossed the boundaries between analogue and digital. Douglas explains this 'we can walk, think and feel the manmade world in virtually the same way we experience the real world'

These 2 images are exactly the same apart from that the one on top is the original digital document saved as a JPG and the one underneath is this document printed off and then scanned in. Douglas says that scanning "always involves loss in clarity" and Berger says "reproductions distort". 

This is also a Wacom tablet drawing. I printed off the same Wacom drawing twice, a digital reproduction that are exactly the same. However I wanted to portray what Douglas describes as "aura of originality" and "unique qualities of every copy" and Berger calls "the unique original meaning" so I edited the reproductions analogue.

This is portraying that although all of these lines were drawn to the same length with the same pencil and ruler, they are all different. Even with something as simple as a line, analogue reproduction is different each time as Douglas says "a wave breaking on a beach, breaking over and over but never precisely in the same form". Furthermore Douglas says there is "fine-grained sensitivity to the unique qualities of every copy", that there are extremely subtle differences. 

This was an experiment influenced by all 4 theorists I have researched and the Draw a line experiment. 

I got 9 people to draw the same scanner. They range from 18-27. They also range from studying graphics, surface pattern, animation, fine art, art history and being a musician, working in computing, working in retail and studying midwifery. 

I gave the same selection of pens for them to chose (interesting how some people drew in media they were comfortable with eg. fine liners and biros)

This is the image I am choosing to explore in my 3rd essay, so Im going to attach what I have written before about how it links to everything I have researched before I cut the words down for the essay....

Walter Benjamin valued uniqueness, justifying its importance, ‘by making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence’. When creating analogue reproductions, as int this experiment, it shows that a unique existence is imbedded within each reproduction, something that is lost in digital reproduction. He then says ‘in principle a work of art has always been reproducible’ however that the thing ‘which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art’. This makes me question if each drawing of the scanner has less aura because it has been reproduced many times.

David Douglas beautifully describes the analogue process to be ‘a wave breaking on a beach, breaking over and over but never precisely in the same form’. This experiment visualises this metaphor as each drawing of the scanner is the same as each wave, however each interpretation is different. He also questions whether aura the first time we see an image, a ‘fine-grained sensitivity to the unique qualities of every copy’ making one appreciate the subtly differences within each reproduction image.

Phil Taylor believed that everyone can be an artist ‘can all self-publish with ease’, that every piece of art is all valid and portrays its own qualities. The experiment includes people that do study art, from different practices and people aren’t a student of art. He also wrote that analogue is beautiful ‘a draw towards the more intimate, and perhaps authentic, relationship an artist can have (…) located within the analogue realm’ and here the experiment shows that creativity, individuality and expression can be portrayed through analogue drawings.

John Berger thought ‘reproduction makes the meanings of works of art ambiguous’ and therefore makes originals open to interpretation which the experiment portrayed through different choices of visual language per image. Also he believed ‘the days of pilgrimage are over’ which is illustrated through image of the scanner has been taken from the internet and is now in a concertina journal.

Trace-a-line was an important inspiration; an experiment involving multiple people to recreate the line drawn from the previous line. The scanner experiment was similar however it didn’t get people to draw from the last drawing, as that could mean that the visual language from the person in front would distract the next person from drawing naturally.

I think it is really interesting how each person has interpreted the same scanner differently, through their individual craftsmanship and visual language. Although the original image was the same, they have all drawn different elements and in different materials.

Douglas said that digital images "can be endlessly reproduced without degradation, always the same, always perfect" and this Adobe Illustrator digitally created image visually exemplifies this. Each television has been copy and pasted from the "original" first creation of the image. Is there even an original image as they are all identical? Benjamin states that "the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition" "by making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence". Douglas says that it is almost impossible "to find a single universality".

This is an experiment to show question Douglas' point"can be endlessly reproduced without degradation, always the same, always perfect" because this is all a copy of the same "original" image but a copy of the last copy. You can't see a huge difference each time so I selected to leave out 3, 5 and 7. I think that this shows that all of these "original" images are the same but different and that it isn't bad to have some individuality and that this could be used to create effect deliberately. In fact image 8 looks quite vintage which Taylor believes is coming 'back in' and becoming popular again.

This image is to portray the inside workings of a colour photocopier. My video tap sequence portrays an analogue drawing, being digitalised by scanning the image on the photocopier but then it is printed onto paper by an analogue roller creating an analogue copy. It also represents that once you create an image that is hand drawn, analogue you can't edit it once it is down, the lines are permanent. This means that you can't edit scale or composition once it is drawn.

This is literally portraying the quote by Douglas describing the analogue process as‘a wave breaking on a beach, breaking over and over but never precisely in the same form’. This is evident through each drawing of a wave being drawn at the same time, through the same fluidity of the continuous line but each being slightly different.

Although this isn't in my journal this is images of paintings from my work. The image by the instructor is in the top left hand corner. This is a section of work from a group of 30 children between 5-12.  They were all instructed to create a painting of a sunset with a patterned border and silhouettes of animals and taken through step by step in a demonstration. It is clear that these images are all reproductions of the example painting, however they are all very different. Should this be due to the children's physical capabilities or imagination/creativity taking over. This questions Benjamin saying that 'by making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence'  because each image is very unique and hand crafted. 

Benjamin believed that "the unique value of the authentic work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of its original use value" and that "a painting has always had an excellent chance to be viewed by one person or by a few".
Berger says that"everything around it confirms and consolidates its meaning" and that"its uniqueness is part of the uniqueness of the single place where it is". Furthermore that people take a"pilgrimage" to visit a gallery and see a painting which links it to a religious occasion, something magical and special.
I wanted to create an image in yellow because to me yellow is a colour representative of "aura" and to show people viewing the painting. I wanted to cut the centre out to contrast the white and yellow as it makes the image seem even brighter as if it is glowing. Also the white, undrawn painting is open to interpretation (as paintings are) but also that it works for any painting/piece of art, not one specifically.

I found out that there is something called human aura believed by some scientists...that there are colours associated to adjectives and feelings. I thought this could be useful for using appropriate colours when representing things, as a template, a reference.

From my mind map I have looked at the colours that would describe a Polariod camera and it's aaura. Taylor says that "today there is a collectable status for vintage Polaroid equipment", a "desire for the authentic". I thought that the colour blue was appropriate because it represents loyalty (to old technology), security/trust (of looking backwards towards the vintage) and love (for the authenticity). I wanted to compliment this with silver because it represents glamour (of the association of vintage) but also high tech (that a Polaroid is a value piece of technological equipment).

"the meaning of an image can be changed according to what you see beside it or what comes after it" Berger. This is showing (through the interesting Mona Lisa discussion) that what you see can be out of context and change how you perceive an image. Also images are "used to persuade us to help purchase more originals which these very reproductions have in many ways replaced" says Berger, describing that now reproductions are used to promote originals as merchandise.

Here I have created the same photo (on a tripod, with the same zoom) but just changed the S.S (shutter speed) per image. This exemplifies what Berger quote "the invention of the camera has not changed only what we see but how we see it". It is also questions Douglas' "aura of originality" because each image is original because it is captured with different light due to the shutter speed but it is of exactly the same scene. The scene is a record player and records (analogue) and a guitar amp (digital)

 S.S 1/10 F3.2 ISO 100

 S.S 1/5 F3.2 ISO 100

 S.S 1/2.5 F3.2 ISO 100

  S.S 1/1.3 F3.2 ISO 100

 S.S 1.5" F3.2 ISO 100

 S.S 3" F3.2 ISO 100

Furthermore this is exactly the same scene/image taken on a tripod just with a 0.01s interval. Nothing moves and nothing changes but each photo is an original, a different file BUT are they the same? are they a reproduction?
 S.S 1/1.3 F2.8 ISO 100
Interval:0h00m01s Number Of Times:006
These are also images of an acoustic (analogue guitar with the possibility of crossing boundaries and amplifying) and an electric guitar (to play through an amp but with the possibility of playing without an amp)

 

Lino cut is an analogue way of reproduction. This is an image of a tape recorder but I sorta turned it into a design built up of patterns rather than creating the image perfectly-it is still recognisable. Each image is a reproduction from the same piece of lino but as described by Benjamin every version has "unique qualities in every copy" due to the nature of analogue "never precisely in the same form".

 Here I created a collograph of a cassette tape. This shows that all of the prints come from the same, original printing block (which I have kept in because it is a form of the original) but this shows that you can create reproductions that are all exactly the same but also originals and different because of the different colours and textures. This is like an analogue version of what Douglas explains that a "color field can be altered or cloned".